PUBLISHED : 17 Jan 2024 at 04:00
The Department of Corrections has asked people not to refer to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as a prison inmate to help smooth his future return to society, even though he is serving a jail sentence while in hospital.
The request was made in a press release issued yesterday. There was no attributed spokesman.
The statement said the department referred to male and female offenders as inmates only when they were actually in prison. This practice was in compliance with the Corrections Act.
The word inmate should not be used when inmates’ names are mentioned outside prison. The statement said that doing so could affect their return to society and infringe on their human rights.
The honorifics Mr, Mrs and Miss were used in the medical records of inmates when they were taken to external hospitals for treatment, the department said.
Referring to them as inmates could brand them for life, as the reference could remain on social media for a long time.
Thaksin, 74, returned to Thailand on Aug 22 last year after 15 years of self-exile and entered the justice system. He had been convicted and later sentenced in absentia for corruption and abuse of authority while in office prior to the military coup that ousted him in 2006.
On arrival on Aug 22, 2023, Thaksin was detained and taken to court and was, on the same day, sentenced to eight years in prison, which was later reduced to one year by royal clemency.
That same night, the former premier was taken from Bangkok Remand Prison, where he had been jailed, to the Police General Hospital for “health reasons”. He has reportedly undergone surgery and has been there ever since.
A senator earlier anticipated Thaksin’s release next month.